The Singularity Trap

De: Dennis E. Taylor

Narrado por: Ray Porter

Dennis E. Taylor, author of the best-selling Bobiverse trilogy, explores a whole different, darker world in this sci-fi stand-alone. Determined to give his wife and children a better life back home, Ivan Pritchard ventures to the edge of known space to join the crew of the Mad Astra as an asteroid miner. He's prepared for hard work and loneliness—but not the unthinkable. After coming into contact with a mysterious alien substance, Pritchard finds an unwelcome entity sharing his mind, and a disturbing physical transformation taking place. With his very humanity at stake, Pritchard must save mankind from a full-scale interstellar war.

Brought to life by prolific, award-winning narrator Ray Porter, The Singularity Trap is a thrilling adventure rife with drama and action on a truly cosmic scale.

©2018 Dennis E. Taylor (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC. Cover illustration by Stephan Martiniere.

On the more realistic side

Many authors of this genre bend the laws of physics, aka magic. This is on the more believable side. No faster than light travel, no ridiculous space combat, basically none of the "magic" stuff that you commonly find in other books.

It's similar to The Day The Earth Stood Still, but takes place in the middle of the next century and the story launches after astroid miners encounter something alien. The role tech plays is less gimicky than in other stories, and much more creative.

What an awesome audio book!

What an amazing and awesome audio book! Dennis E Taylor weaves truly believable characters into great story telling, then mixes it up with science and sets the story into what I believe would be an attainable future, making Singularity Trap so mesmerizing that I found it to be near impossible to push the STOP button!
With Ray Porter's fantastic narration, this audio book just can't be beat! In the story one of the talking heads (a newsie) on the 'vid' sounded like Ted Koppel and another of the characters, well he sounded like Leon Rippy... I can't believe that it would be just a coincidence... lets say Ray Porter makes me very happy...
This is one of the best SF books that I've encountered this year. It's right up there with Artemis by Andy Weir, Lock In by John Scalzi, and Sucide Run by Nathan Lowell... all stellar tales by amazing authors!

Deep, dark, good

Overall I like this book. But I have to say... As a doctor, listening to a story about an infection leading to quarantine and fighting amongst scientists and government and human stupidity DURING COVID was really hard. Hits WAY to close to home. I could only listen to bits at a time. Took me weeks to get through the first half, but then the story perked up and I was able to finish it in short order. (Kind of neat to have read the Bobiverse books first, a few nods in there.)

First audio book that I finished

Loved narrator's voice, every character felt like they are different person. Pretty cool. Would recommend

Interesting

I think the beginning is a bit slow, but the latter half the book is very interesting and more than make up for the slow starting pace.

good solo story.

another great read by Ray porter!
Dennis Taylor is now on my author watch list for books to get when released.
If you haven't listened to his BobbIverse series yet you need to do so ASAP!

A New, Original SciFi Dilemma

Bottom line: I'm impressed w/ this plot & highly recommend it to SF fans!

Pros. 1) The fate of humanity was at stake in an *original* & compelling manner. This is an impressive achievement for the author; there are only so many ways to spin standard SF themes.
2) To my knowledge, the initial source of tension
(displayed in the cover art; I'm being vague to avoid spoilers) is also original.
3) I enjoyed the intellectual nature of the challenges faced. Top-level: how to save humanity against impossible odds? Details: how to communicate in code under omnipotent surveillance (think: Asimov's, "I, Robot")? The author serves up satisfying solutions!
4) This takes place in the future. The several references to present-day SF pop culture were fun/playful :-D

Con. Greater character development wd have vaulted this book into a SF classic.

Yes, I connected w/ the protagonist, and appreciated the handling of the military lead. However, I found myself "wanting more" w/ pretty much every significant character (including the military lead). The romance could have been a compelling subplot. More backstory/concerns of the key players wd have helped readers empathize even more w/ the wonderful tension created in the story.

Regardless, SF fans will appreciate this original & well-conceived storyline.

Something new?

I thought I had seen it all in the sci-fi genre. This book cleanly and enjoyably puts forth a fun plausible subject that doesn’t require me to utilize suspension of disbelief as an imaginative crutch. If life beyond our little blue ball exists, this might seriously be what we may expect to find. As for the performance, normally I don’t appreciate the sound FX some titles attempt to use but in this one book it worked well. Me. Porter is one of my favorite narrators. To sum it up I enjoyed this title very much though I will temper that statement by saying there are plenty of stories I’ve enjoyed more so this book made a great addition to my collection while looking for my next new favorite.

Another hit for Dennis Taylor & Ray Porter

Excellent story with a great flow. Very hard to put down. Look forward to more collaborations with these two.

10/10 would recommend it's good to the end

Great sci-fi with some philosophy sprinkled in. Awesome story with a great narrator. I recommend listening to the Bobbivers books next, they're written and narrated by the same people who did this one.